MLB 2022 | Gurriel Jr. with big day in win, Yuli records his seventh HR, Chapman activated, and more

Daily Major League Baseball (MLB) Cuban Players News for the 2022 season. A compendium from several MLB sources.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (Photo: Toronto Blue Jays' Twitter)

Jul 1, 2022

Lourdes Gurriel went 3-for-3 with a homer and three runs scored on Friday, leading the Blue Jays to a 9-2 victory over the visiting Rays.

Gurriel started a five-run rally with a leadoff double off of Corey Kluber in the third inning, eventually coming around to score on Bo Bichette's two-run double. He also drew a walk later in that inning. Gurriel then led off the sixth inning with a single and scored on a two-run single by George Springer. He then capped off the victory with a solo shot off of David McKay in the seventh. With the monster afternoon, Gurriel is now hitting .292/.347/.432 to go along with five homers, 34 RBI and two stolen bases on the season.

Yordan Álvarez (concussion) remained out of the Astros starting lineup for Friday night's battle against the Angels.

Álvarez took the brunt of a nasty collision with teammate Jeremy Peña during Wednesday's game against the Mets. While Peña returned to the lineup on Friday, it sounds as though Álvarez still may need a day or two. The good news -- at least for now -- is that he has yet to be placed on the injured list, signaling that the Astros still believe it's a day-to-day type of situation.

Yuli Gurriel went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, two runs scored, and a walk in Friday's win over the Angels.

Gurriel went 1-for-3 with a walk, a solo home run and two runs scored Friday against the Angels. Gurriel led off the second inning with his seventh home run of the season, and he came around to score one frame later after earning a one-out walk. He still owns a subpar .227/.280/.396 line for the season, but Gurriel has hit .333 with a pair of long balls, four RBI and five runs scored across his last eight games.

Randy Arozarena was not in the Rays' lineup Friday.

It was a routine day off for Arozarena. Randy hit .240 in June with three home runs, 13 RBI and 10 stolen bases. For the season, he's slashing .253/.306/.399 in 73 games.

Nationals' Yadiel Hernández: Sitting against lefty. Hernández was not in the starting lineup for Friday's contest with the Marlins. Hernández sat against left-hander Trevor Rogers on Friday after he went 2-for-5 with a homer, a double, and two RBI Thursday.

Marlins placed OF Jorge Soler on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 29, with bilateral pelvis inflammation.

Soler was a late scratch from Wednesday's game due to the injury and apparently the off day Thursday wasn't enough to get him over the hump. It's not clear at this point how much time he might miss.

Yankees activated LHP Aroldis Chapman from the 15-day injured list.

Chapman wound up missing five-and-a-half weeks of action with left Achilles tendinitis. Clay Holmes will remain the Yankees' closer for now while Chapman fine-tunes his delivery, and it's possible manager Aaron Boone will just wind up sticking with Holmes in the ninth inning over the long haul.